62 



GARDEyERS' CHROMCLE 



The Calanthe 



GEORGE W. MYLES LYDDIARD 



THE first hybrid was raised by Mr. Dominy uf 

 \ eitch's Xiirser}-, between C. musaca and C. furcata 

 in 1854 and bloomed two years later — this shows us 

 what hybridization will sometimes do, as C. musaca is a 

 shy bloomer, whereas the hybrid is a free bloomer. 



There are about forty species of Calanthe. chiefly na- 

 tives of Asia and a few being American, both evergreen 

 and deciduous varieties. ]\Iy remarks will deal chiefly 

 with the deciduous variety and their successful cultivation. 



One of the oldest varieties is the C. Vestita being in- 

 troduced about 184S by Veitch's of Chelsea. This and its 

 sub-varieties has an apple-shaped pseudo bulb and bears 

 a flower stem (when well grown about two inches across) 

 and from one to three feet long — flowers white with 

 yellow throat and blooms about November. There are 

 several named varieties of this type, some of the best 

 being: Gigantea — strong" grower and usually retains its 

 foliage till the new growth starts and flowers from No- 

 vember to ]March ; nivalis — flowers pure w hite ; por- 

 phvrta — flr>wer spike compact, tinted all over with rose 

 and dift'ering in form from the preceding types : rubro 

 oculata — flowers large with crimson instead of yellow 

 blotch in throat and Turneri — flowers more compact on the 

 spike and smaller, throat blotched with rosy red. 



Personally my prime favorite of all the deciduous 

 Calanthes is \eitchii, and its various sub-varieties, these 

 can easily be identified by their long bulbs indented in the 

 middle and their large plaited light green leaves. The 

 flower spikes when well grown reach three feet in length 

 and bear an abundance of bloom, which are similar to 

 those of the Vestita family but shorter in tlie lip. They 

 are bright rose color with a white throat and bloom 

 from early Winter till the turn of the year. Three of the 

 best varieties of this type being: Bella, very bright pink 

 flowers; Sandhurstiana has deep crimson flowers, and 

 Sedenii which has deep rose colored flowers, darker alto- 

 gether than \'eitchii. 



The preceding varieties I have especially mentioned 

 as they are old, true and reliable. There has been of 

 late years quite a number of very pretty and useful 

 novelties introduced, a number of which I have not h:id 

 the op|x)rtunity of handling. The following, however. 

 I can vouch for : Baron Schroeder variety : albescens. 

 one of the strongest growers: Byran, Chajmianii (Ruby 

 X \'eitchii), I'XX): Harrisii. flowers white, flushed ])ink : 

 ^Irs. C. \'anderbilt, Darblyana (Regnieri X X'estitia ) ; 

 C. Ruby (Sedenie X Vestita) : W. Murray, \ ictcnia 

 Regina (Rosea X Veitchii). 



All the deciduous varieties of Calinlhcs require the 

 same treatment. This is tlie usual course of cultivation 1 

 foll(»w, and I have been successful in growing some quite 

 good and useful patches of this most useful class of 

 Winter flowering orchids: .\s soon as the i)l:u-its have 

 finished l)looniing, 1 sejxirate the new bulb from the old, 

 placing the former into four-inch jxjts with coarse sand 

 only, which is kept just moist in a temivorature of about 

 60° to induce a steady and robu.st growth or growths. 

 As soon a> the new growths are about four inches long 

 they are j>otted into five- and six-inch pots, according to the 

 size and .strength of the bulbs, and placed in strong heat 

 and never allowed' to go back. They are given as scion 

 as potted one thorough watering to settle the p:)tting 

 com]K>st thoroughly round each bulb. The smallest bulbs 

 are potted into eight- and ten-inch pans, five tf) si.x in each, 

 care being taken to plant all the bulbs in the center of the 



pan with the growths outward to insure the plants as 

 much frecdt)m as ))ossible to develop their new bulbs. 

 These pans will be found, when in flower, very useful in- 

 deed from a decorative point of view. The plants at this 

 stage retjuire more than ordinarv attention for a few 

 weeks till they establish themselves. Great discretion 

 shouki be used in the matter of watering and ventilation 

 as the growei nnist bear in mind that they thrive best in 

 strong heat anti an abundance of atmospheric moisture 

 at all times, till they have finished their growth towards 

 the end of September. 



These plants love light, but will not stand the direct 

 rays of the Sununer sun. Give a lighi shading to protect 

 them during bright weather, but on no accoimt use a 

 heavy or j^ermanent shading, as very often this is how 

 ])lants are sjwiled and their foliage badly rusted ; also 

 never crowd your plants. If you have spece to grow a 

 dozen plants well, do so but don"t try to grow two dozen 

 and spoil the whole batch. How often one sees this sort 

 of thing, even in some well appointed gardens, trying 

 to grow more than there is really space for, and getting" 

 some very ordinary results. 



I always endeavor to kee]> my i)lants as near the glass 

 as possible without touching it, and allow them plenty 

 of room for light and. air to get around the plants. 



.\bout July when the bulbs begin to swell is the time 

 to start to feed them. Being terrestial plants they 

 require quite a lot of careful feeding to helj) bring them. 

 to perfection, and experience has taught me that Calan- 

 thes love a change of feeding from time to time. I usu- 

 ally start feeding with manure water from cowdung 

 and soot iti a weak state about twice a week, gradually 

 using it stronger as the bulbs develop, as you would for 

 mums. I vary it to some standard chemical manure, such, 

 as Clay's, Thompson's, etc. 



\\'hen September arrives some of the varieties show 

 signs of finishing their season's growth by their baby 

 leaves changing color. Water in both lii|uid and atmos- 

 pheric form should be gradually diminislied as time goes 

 on, but on no account must all moisture he withheld till 

 the plants have finished .growing. 



I liave often seen quite good batches of plants ruined 

 by the grower drying the plants off too suddenly. This 

 is as detrimental to them as over watching them at this 

 stage. .\s soon as the flowers begin to open the ])lants 

 should be moved into a dryer house with a night tempera- 

 ture of about 60°. P>y doing this your flowers will gain, 

 substance and color and last in bloom much longer. 



The compost I use is three parts good turfy loam, 

 one part jieat. both hand jiicked and sifted to reduce the 

 soil from the loam in a f|uarter-inch sieve, and one ])art well 

 rotted cow manure rubbed through one half-inch sieve. 

 .See that manure is nf)t loo wet or on the other hand too. 

 drv, for if it is. it means hard work to get through sieve 

 and does not mix so evenly with the loam and peat. Mix 

 thoroughly and to each two bushels add a four-inch pot 

 of soot, one six-inch pot of charcoal broken to the size 

 of peas, and one four-inch pot of bone meal with a liberal 

 siirinkling of sand (coarse, not fine). 



'I'he bulbs should be iwtled l)arcl\- ;ni in^'li deep in the 

 coniinist, makin.g it fairly and evenly tirm. not liard on 

 any account. Great care should be taken not to make 

 the com|)ost too firm on the side of the bulb from which 

 comes the growth and the tender fleshy roots. 

 (Conliiiiicd on l^oi^c 68) 



